Legend: Nightfire Cult

This week, for our Free Legend Faction is the Nightfire cult. This one is more of a traditional adventuring campaign where all the characters are in a single cult. You should notice influences from the Lord of the Rings, Babylon 5, and other types of heroic organizations. We hope you enjoy this. As always, please give us any constructive criticism you may have. We would love to hear it.

Nightfire Cult (Cult)

Few outside of the cult itself and academic circles recognize the Nightfire Cult as an actual cult. Most believe them to be a martial order or a band of thieves or others of ill repute. However the members of the Nightfire Cult, or Torchbearers as they call themselves, know their deity to be true. They worship Weneg, a little known deity that supports the sun god by watching at night, guarding against the chaos that can befall civilization from the dark places.

The Nightfire Cult mostly attracts from two groups of people: outcasts and those that have personally experienced the dark forces in their lives. Street urchins, children of disgraced warriors and others that through no fault of their own found themselves outcast by civilization and unable to live a life of peace find mutual respect and the ability to make a difference for good within the Nightfire Cult. The other major group consists of those that have lost a loved one or have had their home destroyed or had their lives shattered by creature of chaos or some kind of beastman or other deadly monster. It is a drive and passion of this magnitude that the Nightfire Cult requires to handle the universal rejection by most civilized folk while still defending them with little to no recognition.

The tenets of the Nightfire Cult are simple: Protect those that cannot protect themselves. Fight the forces of chaos no matter what form they take. Stand between the darkness of chaos and the light of civilization. Trust in your fellow torchbearers with your life. Worship Weneg for he gives you purpose.

Torchbearers almost never enter cities. While it is not taboo, many of the members do not want to return to a place that ostracized them. Most stay close to small villages or live in makeshift huts in the forest.

Weneg does not have temples dedicated to him but instead has small shrines in the woods or other remote places. The cult, also, does not possess an overarching hierarchy. A priest of a Nightfire cell can climb no higher in status. Most cells possess only one priest at a time, but it is not unheard of for a cell to have 4 priests. This generally occurs when a fire team rises to the rank of priest together over the years of fighting the darkness.

Many from governors to peasants tend to have a negative view of the Nightfire Cult. Members of this cult are rarely seen by city folk except when something goes horribly wrong. Whether they failed to stop a horde of barbarians or a creature of chaos burned a place down, the Nightfire Cult is always around when there is trouble from the less civilized lands. As a result they tend to receive the blame for the trouble caused, when in reality the Nightfire Cult weakened the trouble-causing monster enough to allow it to be stopped by the city guard. Most members of the cult accept this negative attitude as part of what is required of them for their faith. However, lightly-protected areas such as rural towns and lone homes tend to have a much more positive attitude towards the Nightfire Cult since the Torchbearers are the frequently the only defense there is against the dangers of the land. Rural folk frequently give the Torchbearers needed medical aid and supplies to continue their holy mission.

Common Magic: Clear Path, Detect Enemy, Endurance, Light, Mobility

Divine Magic: Dismiss Elemental, Heal Wound, Sureshot

Initiate

The first thing an initiate is to learn is survival for if an initiate torchbearer cannot survive on his own, the Nightfire Cult will have to protect him instead of others. A Tourchbearer must possess Survival, Shortbow style, and any three other cult skills at 30%. Initiates must also know at least one of the cult’s common magic spells. An initiate is never allowed on missions alone. He generally travels with anywhere from two to six other initiates in a single fire team. For more dangerous missions, a fire team will include a ranger or an acolyte.

Ranger

A Torchbearer has proven he can survive on his own and now can be hired for simple work alone such as a guide through a dangerous forest. While a ranger is allowed on missions alone, it is rare. More frequently, a ranger works in groups of two or three others. Fire teams of rangers are rarer but they do happen. A ranger is to focus on knowledge fore a ranger must know its enemy before he can properly defeat it. An initiate wishing to become a ranger must possess Lore (Regional), Shortbow style, Survival and three other cult skills at 50%. Ranger must also possess a minimum of 1 POW dedicated to Weneg must know at least two common magic spells.

Acolyte

Acolytes are also knows as guardians. It is not uncommon for an acolype to stand on a bridge forbidding its enemy to pass until the acolyte is dead. Acolytes frequently work alone for most situations but are known to work in fire teams for larger missions. Being an acolyte is about dedication. To show their sacrifice, a minimum of 4 POW must be dedicated to Weneg. Additionally, an acolyte must possess Lore (Regional), Shortbow style, Survival plus three other cult skills at 70%. Lastly an acolyte must know three of the cult’s common magic spells.

Priest

Being a priest is about standing up to the greatest of threats. A priest must stand up to a great and terrible monster bent on mass death and destruction and live. While defeating the monster is the most common outcome, it is not required. Simply standing up to it and surviving is what is important. Priests that have survived fights without defeating the monster typically provide others with enough time to escape. A priest of Weneg once talked a dragon out of a burning a city to the ground. His actions allowed the people a chance to escape. Unfortunately that priest was killed by the very people he saved for not killing the dragon when he had a chance. All priests must dedicate 7 POW to Weneg, know all the cult’s common spells and have a total of 6 cult skills at 90%. Three of those skills must be Lore (regional), Shortbow Style, and Survival.